By Brendan Moynihan, PGA, with Don Jozwiak, Senior Editor
Our golf operation at Four Seasons Hualalai Resort got a big boost a couple years ago when we opened our Hualalai Golf Hale (pronounced HALL-lay), a 3,000 square-foot indoor/outdoor learning center with a Full Swing simulator, Foresight launch monitors, SAM PuttLab and Trackman Range. I helped design the Golf Hale, and it was fun to get it up and running – and to use it to provide an inviting atmosphere for our members and our many resort guests. The building includes comfortable seating, complimentary snacks and beverages and six TVs. A lot of people love to take lessons while they’re on vacation, and the Golf Hale is a perfect place to work with them. Even though they have a limited time here, I’ve learned how to use the Golf Hale to find out about their game and their goals, while providing them coaching that can help them play better while they’re here and after they return home.
When working with a new student who’s a resort guest, I’ll start with a sit-down interview in our comfortable seating area. Having cold drinks and an array of snacks adds to the feeling of comfort and helps break the ice. We’ll run through their golf experience, how much they play and practice, what their goals are and what other sports they’ve played. It’s a neat way to get to know people better while I’m figuring out a game plan to speak to them about golf in a way that they’ll enjoy and understand. The interview usually takes 10 minutes or so, and this is where I’m building trust and a connection with players.
Once we’ve established some goals and I know the player’s personality a bit better, I like to get them into one of our hitting bays. I’ll let them hit a few shots to warm up without offering any feedback, which also gives me a chance to get set to take video and record audio during our session. That way I can send the student home with a video that includes my commentary and suggestions with footage and analysis of their swing and any drills that we worked on. This also opens up the possibility of doing virtual lessons or check-ins later, which isn’t something we’ve done a lot of in the past but are starting to ramp up. Golfers like having a personalized video after the lesson, as well as knowing that they can still reach out to me for support and to make sure they’re staying on the right track.
We have a great short game area next to the Golf Hale, and we’ll head outside and finish up our lesson in the Hawaiian sunshine. I love to work on the short game because that’s where most golfers are going to be able to see immediate improvement in their scores by being more efficient from 50 yards and in. So we’ll work on putting drills – especially some fun ones, since people generally find putting practice to be boring – then move on to some chipping, working in the bunker, then do some closest-to-the-hole challenges. After we’re done, I also have a library of video tips and drills that I can add on to the video lesson so they can refer back to it and make remembering what we talked about easier.
As a golf coach, the best thing about having the Golf Hale – or any learning center – is that you don’t have to set up everything on the range every day. All of our launch monitors, cameras, training aids and anything else we need in a lesson is ready to go at all times. It’s also nice to give people a more private experience where they don’t feel like other people on the range are watching them, which stresses out some golfers. Our visitors also like how we blend all the technology since they’re all used to having access to information and video on their phones all the time, and the quick feedback that they can refer back to from the video lessons is beneficial. I know I’m not going to make anyone into Tiger Woods in an hour or two, but the idea is for them to enjoy taking lessons and feel good about getting out on our great golf course. I think the Golf Hale has made me a better instructor, and I’m able to provide a great, all-inclusive experience that will help make their time at Four Seasons Hualalai Resort elevated and memorable.
